Had a JRA incident just over a month back, coming off of the SDW on my mountain bike.
Been along here a bunch of times but this time at speed slipped into a rut, flipped the front wheel round and over I went.
Smith's fracture to my left wrist, 2-3 busted ribs, loads of gravel rash, so lucky that was it as I was riding on my own and had to call a pal to help.
Means I might not be back on the bike for another 5-10 months according to the surgeon.
Still I’ve not had a bad run biking for 12 years without a major incident and I’ve got augmentations now
It's the National Hill Climb Championships tomorrow at one of my local climbs, Streatley Hill.
Sadly no spectators allowed but there's a live stream if anyone is interested.
I have the very important role of start rig handle sanitiser marshal
(Usually riders are held clipped in at the start, but in these Covid times that's not allowed so they can start clipped in by holding onto the start rig.)
High hopes for local female rider Bithja Jones who is the current course record holder. I have ridden with her a few times, she's an absolute machine!
Couple from my club are going, I hope they do well.
This is a lovely tale for all who appreciate cycling, or just want something nice to read this weekend.
Search velo29 on Facebook for the live feed
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Glad you enjoyed it, it turned out to be a great day in spite of Covid and a big downpour at the start of the women's race.
And I'm delighted to report that Bithja smashed her own course record to take the title by a 3 second margin, amazing stuff!
Amazing result for Tao in the Giro today, he’s come a long way from Saturday boy at Condor cycles and Herne Hill track league.
Another British grand tour winner.
Has anyone ever swapped out MTB suspension forks for solid replacements here? I have a budget 500 quid specialised MTB, couple of years old now that came with some awful Suntour forks. After a couple of years they’re now weeping, sticky and generally quite poor. I generally just thrash round with them locked out. Not worth fixing on a budget MTB I’m thinking maybe replacing with solid lightweight disc forks.
Trouble is, my Specialized Pitch seems to have just 1 1/8th steerer tube versus the more common tapered headset. I can’t seem to find solid forks that are decent and not made of lead as a result.
Worth making the change or should I just bite the bullet and maybe put 1k into a new hard tail?
1 1/8th is a bit of stumbling block also for buying headsets! Not as bad as the 1" I had on my Orange MTB.
A local bike shop should be able to fit a pair of old steel forks. even if made of lead they should still be lighter than a susses with oil and springs. Ideally a carbon fork would be ideal, it would take of a bit of road buzz and be lighter
something like this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specializ...8AAOSwluVflGqv
However I would try and find a bike shop that has one in and is prepared to fit it , so you dont get into the circle of " that's the wrong XYZ for your frame guv"
Steve
Ditched the bouncy things at least 15 years ago for Pace RC31s. Before that, pre bouncy things, I had Kona P2 rigid steel forks on a Kona Cindercone, reasonably light and nicely compliant. You might find some P2s or Pace on ebay, not sure if Kona still make P2s but I recall seeing other carbon MTB forks out there a short while ago.
F.T.F.A.
Yeah that's what I've been lhere's plenty of new ones on the bay now with disc mounts but they're either about 90 quid or Chinese. Plus if I'm changing forks I may as well do the headset at the same time and quickly gets pricey. Although I'm confident in my abilities to change/upgrade forks, it does get annoying making sure everything is compatible and properly greased etc.
Thank. I think I'll keep a search on ebay and also get down to my local bike shop - see which one lands a decent solution first. Trouble is, when the whole bike was about 500 quid, it's easy to spend way too much on constituent parts in proportion to the bike.
I have to say that if bike availability were decent and not been impacted by C19 I know the best route would have been for me just to get a cycle to work voucher through work ad get something decent. Oh well. Thanks for the advice guys.
I was set on buying a second road bike and this came up in my browsing of ebay but what made me pull the trigger was, it’s identical to one of my cycling mates who I ride with in a club and I thought it would be funny to rock up in the same bike. How sad
I really want something candy sparkle red with gold decals, and I was looking at trying to find a frame set but I reckon fully specced and painted, it would cost around £1100-1200 built, so I will either have this one repainted or buy something else fully built and get the paint job done. But do I need three road bikes?
I do like it though, I’ve put just under 200 miles on it in two rides and a bit of Zwift and it goes well.
Saw this in Leisure Lakes last week, isn’t it pretty?
For anyone interested in winter training, Sufferfest have introduced two new winter plans (Transition Up/Down) and are offering an additional 30 days to their free trial with the code TRANSITION30 to allow you to complete the 6 week programme free.
SF training is excellent and if you are serious about going on a programme to improve this is well worth a try.
No, it’s another boring black carbon bike popped out of mould! I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but to me it’s incredibly dull.Saw this in Leisure Lakes last week, isn’t it pretty?
There are some lovely bikes out there from the likes of Baum, Speedvagen, Sarto, Stebel, Casati, Pegoretti, Donhou, Field, Legend and that’s just a few from a long list of manufacturers who make bikes look like works of art.
Id ride it to feel its beauty rather than judge it on its looks
RIAC
It is indeed a 56
I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I bought it because it’s got QR and was easier than messing around with adaptors for a turbo, and also to use it as a winter hack (although it’s probably a bit too good for that)
I think an S-Works bike is probably going to be a bit too much bike for me, both financially and within my ability!
Last edited by johnnyguitar; 28th October 2020 at 07:18.
Dont forget we have the TZ cycling club on Strava also.
RIAC
Great write up of Sunday's National Hill Climb Championship here:
https://traumfahrrad.com/2020/10/27/...020-streatley/
Really proud to have been involved, albeit in a small way.
I just joined as well. Although all my miles will be virtual until the spring at least.
Any turbo trainer users? Just ordered a wahoo kikr snap, does anyone know if tie rear wheel will get some undue stress/wear die to the resistance wheel and if so is it worth buying a second hand wheel for use on the trainer?
Yeah, the wheel should be fine, but the tyre will wear out. You can get turbo specific tyres which are harder wearing.
Thanks chaps
A few weeks back whilst out for a run I came across this old mountain bike which was being given away for free - a Diamondback Apex from 1994. It was somewhat worse for wear and not in working order but I'd thought I'd have a crack at bringing it back to life (My wife was not impressed when I wheeled it into the flat! 🤣).
Not something I've attempted before but I've really enjoyed stripping it down completely and rebuilding it back up and it's been a great learning experience!
Very pleased with the result!
Thats a credit to you, It always makes me smile how we rode steel mtb’s with narrow tubing and spindly forks. All I know how fast and responsive they felt. The current crop of mtbs are so slack in terms of geometry and the frame tubes look so large in section compared to 653.
Ps Nice XT chainset
Lovely job!
It was in the 90’s that I got back into cycling after a sabbatical due to life getting in the way, and a Diamond Back Apex was what I purchased from the shop.
I fitted some pretty ordinary RST suspension forks, about 45mm travel, and hit the trails and bridleways and loved it.
Enjoy!
"I fitted some pretty ordinary RST suspension forks, about 45mm travel, and hit the trails and bridleways and loved it"
How times change. My hardtail emtb has 100mm Recon's and that seems a bit lacking in travel by latest standards. How ever did we manage on those skinny old MTB's lol.
As winter draws in any recommendations on a good winter riding jacket or jersey ?
Preferably with a pockets for phones and keys?
Are Rapha any good or all hype ?
I like to layer up so I can add/remove as necessary, so use an outer shell Altura Nightvision jacket (which has a built-in light on the back as well as the reflectors) for the commute, and if cold underneath I have a Rapha mid-layer which I actually bought off SC here a few years ago. It stretches over the beer belly nicely, and has put up with years of abuse from me, so thumbs up. I don't think I could have paid full price for it new though - it was £199.99 RRP!
The price of quite a few bikes has just gone up.
road.cc: Specialized, Canyon and Giant increase prices by up to 12%.
https://road.cc/content/news/special...-prices-278405
The specialized diverge carbon base I bought in the summer with an RRP of £2,199 is now £2,600. Crazy.
If you live in Surrey and spend most of your time cycling endlessly around Kingston and standing outside any bike cafes then Rapha is compulsory or you simply wont fit it.
If you want to take it to the next level then make sure you do next to no miles and only ride on pure sunshine days then you can join Rapha Road Club and have exclusive branded clothing that will never be technically challenged but you will look really cool.
RIAC
Not all hype, some bits are good, the Brevet stuff is good but this years colours not so much, and the ProTeam jacket I really rate but it's now called the ProTeam winter jacket and the design has changed slightly so don't know whether it's better or worse!
Price wise I think it's pretty good for technical kit, certainly comparable to Castelli and other high end kit, however it's positively bargain basement compared to the new Assos winter jacket 'johDah' that comes in at a cool £575!
https://www.assos.com/EQUIPE-RS-Wint...er=M&color=113
It is good gear, if you can justify it which means miles in all weathers or money on the finest of days. Ive got a wardrobe full of it as along with Assos and Specialized Pro I think it’s fit, form and function are superb. Luckily I have the beard and tattoos and live in Surrey so can masquerade alongside the strokers without being noticed as an actual higher mileage and lifelong cyclist, they assume I’m one of them.
RIAC
I’m sure the gear is good but the marketing package that goes with it is not for me or my riding buddies.
Most guys I know ride in club gear or a mix of other stuff Castelli is popular. I’m a big fan of the Assos shorts but I think I’m on my last ones now as they don’t last very well as they Lycra goes see through so I’m going to give some Castelli ones a go. I’ve also got some BioRacer gear which seems pretty good.